THE ATENEO de Manila University (ADMU) School of Science and Engineering (SOSE) joined hands with the Institut Catholique d’Arts et Métiers (ICAM) to welcome exchange students from the different ICAM campuses for their year-long Parcours Ouvert O3 Program last September.
Parcours Ouvert is a holistic engineering program in ICAM that deals with various fields ranging from material science to electronics engineering while also incorporating concepts in management and entrepreneurship.
By the end of this year, the students will be conducting their Habitat Project, in which they are expected to develop, design, and construct a house that will address the needs of a specific partner community designated by the Office for Social Concern and Involvement.
As an international program, Parcours Ouvert allows ICAM exchange students to pursue a year of their studies at Ateneo, immersing themselves in Philippine society and university life.
Stronger bond
This partnership epitomizes the spirit of global collaboration that both institutions cherish.
SOSE Dean Raphael Guerrero, PhD, highlights the ongoing and long-standing healthy partnership that ADMU and ICAM have had for almost 20 years. “We have been working with them on research, particularly on sustainable technologies,” Guerrero explains.
For the past years, the Ateneo has also been sending faculty over to the French campus of ICAM to handle problem-based learning subjects, both through onsite and hybrid modalities. Guerrero and Associate Dean for the Core Curriculum Benjamin Tolosa, PhD, also visited to discuss the Parcours Ouvert program with ICAM and its potential implementation in the Ateneo for September 2023.
After initial discussions, SOSE started to study the framework for implementation as they aimed to adapt the program to fit seamlessly within Ateneo’s curriculum and to align it closely with the Philippine context.
To draft the modules for the course, they developed an engineering task force spearheaded by the Program Manager and current Department of Information Systems and Computer Science chair Patricia Abu, PhD. The production of these modules is in collaboration with various departments in all four schools, with SOSE and the Department of Electronics, Computer, and Communications Engineering being the hosts.
While the pandemic initially halted the implementation, the team pushed through with determination, securing approval for the program by April 2023. Come August 2023, the program was promptly launched on AISIS, conveniently in place for exchange students during the enlistment period.
Planning and progress
Abu elaborated that the students will take up 18 modules throughout the school year. The SOSE task force strategically adjusted the original Parcours Ouvert modules to align with Ateneo’s distinguished academic framework.
Moreover, ICAM streamlined various modules into a singular multidisciplinary subject. This ensures a seamless integration and enhanced compatibility with Ateneo’s rigorous academic standards.
Abu adds that the subjects are distributed across the semester with different periods and focus, whereas some courses only have one or two units and are only taken up in specific weeks.
Currently, SOSE is setting up a fabrication laboratory equipped with 3D printers and CNC machines to help students create components for particular projects. When asked about funding, Guerrero credits ICAM for providing a generous seed fund.
“We’re looking at a more hands-on experience in laboratories [for the ICAM students],” Guerrero points out.
Elois Picard, one of the exchange students, emphasizes how the program’s unique and problem-based setup enabled him to learn much about adaptability and autonomy. He believes that such is greatly relevant in design, construction, and management in the engineering field.
“[The experience] has been very lovely and insightful, especially learning about our Habitat Project,” Picard says.
Building on that sentiment, ICAM students dive deep into the course’s technical nuances while absorbing the vibrant Filipino culture and community. Picard also states that he anticipates the enduring alliance between ICAM and Ateneo.
“The journey has been nothing short of delightful, believing many more will be inspired and illuminated by the program,” he adds.
Entry point
While Ateneo mainly focuses on the O3 course for fourth-year ICAM students this school year, the SOSE task force has already completed the Ateneo’s framework for the four-year program with a similar pedagogy. The university aims to make the course available to the Ateneo student body and incoming freshmen in early 2025 as they would like to implement the program’s interdisciplinary nature for the rest of Ateneo.
According to Guerrero, successfully executing the program would lead to greater international community awareness and highlight the potential of collaborations with global partners.
“We’re also hoping that this will drive the creation of other innovative academic programs in not just SOSE but the entire Higher Education Cluster, given globalization needs, multidisciplinary research, and even solutions to very complex problems,” he adds.
